Remains of Lost WWII Hero Coming Home to Montana This Week

George G. Simmons left Montana when he was just 18 to join the U.S. Army and help the Allies fight and win World War II, but Simmons never returned and his body was placed in a mass grave in the Philippines.

However, thanks to DNA analysis, Simmon’s remains will be coming home tomorrow, June 16.

"He was a corporal in the U.S. Army and he died in the Philippines after being captured on Corregidor and marched up to one of the POW camps," American Legion post 91 Historian Doug Mason said. "His body has been exhumed and his remains have been identified and so he's coming home to his hometown of Corvallis, Montana."

Simmon’s remains will be flown from Hawaii to Spokane where they will be placed in a Hearse around 1:00 p.m. Mountain time. After that, a procession will begin all the way to Simmon’s hometown.

"At 4:10 p.m. they should be going over Lookout Pass where they'll be picked up by the Montana Highway Patrol," Mason said. "Then they're going to go down the I-90 corrdior. They will turn on Reserve, come down Reserve. Turn right on Brooks on 93 and head on down to Florence. Go down the Eastside Highway. We are expecting about 200 motorcyclists picking up the procession in Lolo."

The motorcade is expected to pass through Missoula between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. Thursday evening. Veterans Service Organizations are asking the public carry American flags and to line Highway 93 down to the Daly Leach Memorial Chapel in Hamilton. Simmons will be laid to rest with full military honors this Saturday at 11:00 A.M. at the Corvallis Cemetery.